Leadership & Philanthropy: Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw in conversation with Azim Premji

If I had to write a biography on Azim, I would like to title it Giving it all,” declared Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, introducing her esteemed guest, who confessed that it was his mother’s compassion and generosity that inspired him to give back to the less privileged. “My mother, a doctor, did not practice medicine. But she founded the children’s orthopaedic hospital in Bombay, a one of its kind hospital in South East Asia, and devoted her life to raise funds to run it because government grants never came on time,” he explained.

Pointing out that it was his biggest regret that he started out “too late”, he said he believed in giving to areas like education in a country with so much poverty. “There is a strong need to uplift the quality of education in government schools.”

When asked whether India, especially Corporate India, needed sustained sensitization on philanthropy, Premji said: “I don’t think people need to be told; most people are well aware about what their social responsibilities are. Wealthy Indians are not big on philanthropy as they think they must leave all their wealth to their children.”

Warming to the theme of giving back, the Wipro Chairman said the challenges of philanthropy in India revolved around the size, scope and depth of the problem, and the fact that one had to depend on the government machinery and the slowness of change. “A sense of charity needs to be ingrained very early in life,” he remarked, sharing a few stories on how well off families could encourage children to share their birthday money with the less privileged.